The cream always rises to the top, and so it has in Europe’s elite football leagues as the very best of the best are opening their trophy cabinets and planning their celebrations.
While the races in the Premier League and Serie A look to be going down to the wire, the 2022 champions have already emerged in Spain, Germany and France and there was no surprise in any of those leagues as the dominant powers swept all before them.
Real Magic
Los Blancos head coach Carlo Ancelotti has become the first manager to win a title in each of Europe’s big five leagues – La Liga, the Premier League, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 – and he did it in style as Real Madrid won the Spanish title at a canter. A 4-0 win over Espanyol led to wild celebrations in the Santiago Bernabeu as they wrestled the title away from their city rivals Atletico, who won a thrilling race last term.
This time, Los Blancos were streets ahead of the opposition, but they may find a bigger challenge next season in Xavi’s Barcelona who now look favourites to finish second. But in the 2021/22 campaign nobody could live with Ancelotti’s men, and particularly the excellent Karin Benzema who is heading towards the Golden Boot with 26 goals, 11 ahead of nearest rivals Iago Aspas, Raul de Tomas and Enes Unal.
In a star-studded team, attacking midfielder Marco Asensio weighed in with ten valuable goals while Brazilian star Marcelo has become Real’s most successful player with 24 trophies at the club.
Now is the time to celebrate, but Ancelotti is already plotting for next season with some high profile incomings planned and Los Blancos also have a Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester City on the horizon, which is delicately balanced following a 4-3 win for the Sky Blues in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium.
Brilliant Bayern
FC Bayern are out of the Champions League, but they made no mistake in the Bundesliga as they strolled to the title, leaving second-placed Borussia Dortmund in their wake.
The Bavarians made it ten league titles on the bounce, and with plenty to spare as they were hardly pushed for much of the campaign. Julian Nagelsmann led Bayern to success in his first season at the helm as they scored 93 goals, the highest in the league, while conceding just 33 goals, the joint fewest alongside RB Leipzig.
It was a dominant team performance but, of course, the player you were never going to keep out of the football 2022 highlights was the prolific Robert Lewandowski who just carries on breaking record after record. With 34 league goals so far he is the best striker in Europe, and there is many a team which would love to secure the Pole’s services should he decide to seek a new challenge.
Lewandowski’s long time partner Thomas Muller has contributed 17 assists this season and another player who impressed was midfield ace Joshua Kimmich. With his fantastic passing ability, he has 88 per cent successful pass completion, he can create chances with a simple well-timed pass or a pinpoint cross, and his ten assists are a testament to his influence on the team. When Kimmich is on song, FC Bayern are the most confident team in Europe.
Near Perfect Paris
After losing the title in 2021, PSG won Ligue 1 for the fourth time in five years with consummate ease and, as things stand, are 14 points clear of second-placed Olympique Marseille with just three games to play.
The club made some big signings in pre-season, the marquee name being Lionel Messi who ended his lifelong association with Barcelona to join the Ligue 1 giants, and he was joined by Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos and Euro 2020 hero, keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The objective was to wrestle the title away from Lille and from the third game, a 4-2 victory over Brest, the Parisiens sat at the top of the Ligue 1 table.
With the ability to win the big games and only five losses for the season PSG are worthy winners, but it hasn’t been all plain sailing in the French capital. The gradual integration of Messi and injuries to his former Barcelona team-mate Neymar meant that much of the pressure fell on the shoulders of Kylian Mbappe but the France star took it well.
Mbappe has scored 25 goals and made 16 assists while Messi weighed in with 13 assists as his influence gradually increased. And at the back the imperious Marquinhos led the team with authority and by example. At 27 years of age, he’s the best defender in the French league and has marshalled a defence which has kept 11 clean sheets; he has a pass completion of 94 per cent and has also scored four goals.
While it was a near-perfect season in Ligue 1, head coach Mauricio Pochettino remains under pressure after his side exited the Champions League in the Round of 16, and his public links to Manchester United will not have endeared him to the club’s owners or fans.So there are two titles left to decide. Manchester City are a point ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League and in Italy the football 2022 betting odds reckon the title is could be going back to Inter Milan. They are two points behind Milan but Inter are at home to Empoli on Friday and at SBOTOP odds of 1.14 to win, while I Rossoneri fans must wait until Sunday to see their team visit Verona, where they are at a price of 1.78 to pick up all three points.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
